No matter where you look these days, there's a profound sense here in the west that the people no longer having any tangible control over what our governments do. Sure, we are allowed to vote every once in a while, but effectively, most of our countries are governed by backroom deals and corporate interests. If matters really do get out of hand, how do we fight this? Well, with technology of course!

"but at least there's a wide political playing field usually raining from the batshit-crazy left to the equally batshit-crazy right..."

I get your point, and I agree it's better to have a wide spectrum than a narrow one.

However as a side note, I am troubled how often so many complex issues are boiled down to a single dimention with right and left sides. It's entirely possible for someone to be fiscally conservative and yet against big business, to be against war, and yet for the right to bare arms, to be for nationalized medicine yet against welfare, etc. People who's beleifs cross the one dimentional political spectrum are probably not going to be well served by either of the parties. And so I kind of wish politicians had more leniancy to diverge from the party-line. Unfortunately, once one identifies with a political party, I think there's a tendency to discredit others on the sole basis of their party affiliation rather than comparing values and using critical thinking to see real differences.

"We may not like these extremists but the fact that the do exist and is part of the political scene is, perhaps a bit contradicting, a sign of a healthy system."

Yes, extremists are necessary and even heathy. But sometimes I think politicians will bargin from the extremity simply to get a policy that favors them when a compromise is made; they may never have genuinely believed in the extreme position in the first place.

often so many complex issues are boiled down to a single dimention with right and left sides

What's "funny" at my place: the still 2nd largest party in parliament, so called "traditional values" one (and general overuse of "moral" issues), presenting itself as very on the right and so on...

...is fairly "socialist" (of course, they take offense at such labeling, but their program and words are there for everyone to see) - essentially more than what remains of The Party (and sort of very much in opposition to them - kinda in the way like Iran sees the UK and US as two devils, or some such)